


A Photo Dropped in the Snow

by zipperpeople



Category: Batman - All Media Types
Genre: A little bit of angst, Cathrine Todd, Implied/Referenced Drug Addiction, Jason's childhood, M/M, Reminiscing, brief mention of Willis Todd
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-21
Updated: 2016-08-21
Packaged: 2018-08-10 05:18:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,991
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7831948
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/zipperpeople/pseuds/zipperpeople
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jason has always kept an old picture in his jacket pocket that no one has ever known about, until he drops it in the snow and Tim picks it up. The night is spent reminiscing about the few happy memories he had before he was Robin.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Photo Dropped in the Snow

**Author's Note:**

> Hi everyone!!!! So right now I'm really stumped on my main story so I've just been writing little things like this to get over my writer's block. 
> 
> I hope everyone enjoys this cute little story, I went with the image of Catherine Todd from Redhood and the Outlaws. Just to clear up any confusion. 
> 
> Enjoy and leave any comments with your thoughts, I might write a second chapter with Tim sharing some of his childhood memories but I'm not sure yet.

“Come on Timbo, it’s cold!” Jason called from a few paces ahead of me, glancing over up from under his hood while standing in the slushy streets of Gotham. I readjusted the heavy book bag that was hanging awkwardly on my forearm, slowly sliding towards my bent elbow as I quickly tapped at my screen. My fingers were so cold that I had to keep going back and retyping my missed letters. As much as I love Gotham, having been born and raised here, I hated the winters. Sure, they’re pretty when you’re sitting in a nice cozy office in Wayne Tower, but the moment I’m forced to stand ankle deep in slushy snow with no gloves it’s much _much_ less enjoyable.

“Yeah just give me a sec I’m just texting Kon.” I said staring down at my phone and slowly walking in the general direction of the older man. The light for the cross walk changed and I watched as he jogged across the road, then beckoning for me to quickly follow. About half way across the street I stopped and bent down, picking up the piece of white glossy paper that was resting on top of the salt and slush covered road where it had just fallen from Jason’s pocket. As I stared down at the photograph I walked across the rest of the street, feeling Jason’s arm wrap around my waist and lead me in the direction of the apartment.

“I swear, sometimes I wonder if you’re dating me or K-” He paused mid sentence before slowing his pace and glancing down “Wait whatcha got there Timmy?” He stopped dead and leaned over me, examining the old faded picture that I had clutched in my hands.

“It fell out of your pocket.” I mumbled without moving my eyes away from the picture. In the photo there was a woman sitting on a beaten up couch, a small christmas tree that was covered in garland with round ornaments that looked to be mix and matched to one side of the picture, there was a cheery black haired boy, no older than six with the biggest smile on his face. The woman seemed pale, her thin ginger hair was pulled back into a messy bun and despite her sickly appearance she was holding the young boy close and smiling as widely as she could. Both of their clothes were tattered and the rest of the room looked bare and run down but my eyes kept being drawn back to the boy’s cheery expression, and despite the significant age difference I could tell by those icy eyes that it was the man now standing next to me, which meant that the woman was…”That’s your mum?” I tore my eyes away from the picture so that I could meet his gaze. His features were stone cold and it wasn’t from the chilly air, his jaw was set tightly and his shoulders back, but his eyes were full of emotion. It was a pained and almost sad expression, the kind of sadness that every Robin had experienced at one point. It was the silent pain that I tried so hard to ignore but it always erks me in the middle of the night, not allowing me to sleep. Just when you least expect it, or feel like you’re on the top of the world, it hits you. It eats away at you and you’re filled with the memories good and bad of the ones you’ve lost. And that is _exactly_ what I see in his eyes.

“Yeah.” he finally said after a long silence. I hoped he would go on, open up a little but he just took the picture from between my fingers, folded it up as the creases indicated he had done so many times before then continued the walk back to the apartment. I made a few efforts to cheer him up before we got back into the warmth of the building; trying to loop our arms, start a conversation, but every time I was shot down or ignored, as he pushed his hands further into his jacket pockets. When we finally got home from what seemed like the longest walk from the bookstore I watched him kick his shoes off before walking wordlessly into his study, door closing behind him. _Shit, I messed up_.

The night went by without a word, I worked on my laptop in the living room hoping that he would come out of the room so I could at least apologize (as for what, I’m still unsure about) but it never happened. When the clock hit quarter to 8 I finally stood up and knocked on the door under the pretense of patrol. “Hey Jay,” Not a word. I knocked again, “Jay, I know I shouldn’t have pried but it’s almost 9 and I wanted to know if you plan on going on patrol.” When I didn’t get a responce I decided to give him some space, even though I wanted nothing more than to be able to comfort him, I’ve been around Jason enough to know when he needs some time.

I went back to the closed door, now dressed in the bare minimum of my Red Robin gear, all my gloves, belt, cape, boots, mask and staff still sitting on the coffee table. I knocked softly, the small metal plates that lined my fingers making my knock sound so much louder then I had meant. Once again I got no response, which didn’t sit right with me. Jason likes his space but at the same time I know that he hates being alone and often when he’s left to his own devices for long periods of isolation his mind tends to run wild. And it was because of that reason that I decided to push open the door and step into the dimly lit room. There were bookcases lining a lot of the wall space, a tire from the Batmobile was sitting on a lower shelf and a glass wall case with a few of his swords from his training were the only other decorations on the walls. There was a big desk in the middle of the room, with stacks of both of our work, mixed with a few folder from Wayne Enterprises that I was forced to work on this weekend. The desk lamp was on and illuminated just enough for me to see Jason sitting in the desk chair, on knee pulled up to his chest while he read a book that was in front of him.

He didn’t look up when I entered, but his posture changed from relaxed to much more rigid and tense. I stood awkwardly in the doorway, hoping that he would say anything. The silence stretched on but I could tell that he wasn’t paying much attention to the book in front of him anymore. “Can I say something?” I whispered, wincing at how loud even that sounded in the silent room.

“It’s a free country.” He said, not looking away from the pages that he seemed to be staring at so intently. “I’m not sure what I did that upset you, I guess I shouldn’t have looked at the picture, let alone ask you about it. But, I’m really sorry and I just…”I took a deep breath, trying to steady my voice as best I could. “I’m just curious about your life before being Robin, and I know it’s painful and I shouldn’t have asked. I’m so sorry Jay, I hate seeing you like this.” There was another painful silent moment where I could feel the suffocating tension in the room.

“Come here.” I watched as he pushed the chair back and shifted so he was sitting cross legged. Slowly I walked over and around the table before I was standing in front of him, his gaze directed to the floor. He reached out and wrapping his arms around my waist, tugging me onto his lap and holding me close. I tucked my head under his chin and smiled as the tense atmosphere in the room dissipated and left us in eachother’s arms. “She would have liked you a lot.” He mumbled into my hair and he carded his fingers through my longer locks. I hummed softly, hoping he would continue. “She was a good mom when she…” he paused but I couldn’t tell if it was to carefully choose his wording or if he was uncomfortable with sharing. “...When she was clean she was amazing.” I grasped the hand that he had resting in my lap, lacing my fingers with his in silent encouragement. “My dad was, he was a piece of shit. Always ‘working’ so when mom...It was left to me to take care of her. Her depression would get bad and drugs didn’t help much,” He paused again, steadying his breathing again. He stopped talking so I decided to say something to ease the tenseness I could feel building in his shoulders.

“What was she like?” My voice was soft as I brought his hand to my lips where I pressed soft kisses to the pads of each finger.

“She was- she tried to be happy when she could. But that wasn’t very often, she was in pretty rough shape most of the time. There was one time I came home and found her passed out on the floor with sc-”

“Don’t focus on that, tell me about the good times.” I interrupted before he got into the darker details.

“That picture,” He looked down at me and our gazes met, his eyes were soft and there was a pained look in them. “It was christmas eve, my aunt came and spend the night with us. Dad was out doing something, I didn’t care what it was. All I cared about was that she was past most of the withdrawal so she was happy, even if she was still frail.”

“You looked so happy in the picture.”

“I was, _fuck_ I was so happy. She got me _Catcher in the Rye_ and my aunt got me _To Kill a Mockingbird._ My aunt had bought a turkey and showed me how to prepare it, and we all ate together. I couldn’t have been happier.” I couldn’t help but smile, his voice was soft but filled with so much passion. His grip around my waist was tighter and the tenseness in his shoulders was gone.

“Jason,” He looked down at me again and I moved so that I was straddling his lap, giving me a better face to face with him. “I love you.” His soft smile turned into a full on wide one, his hand came up to my cheek, gently stroking it.

“I love you too, and thank you for listening to my rambling.” I pressed a chaste kiss to his lips before pulling back and smiling.

“I’m always happy to listen, she sounded amazing Jay. Now I see where you get it from.” His smile dropped and his hand stopped moving, for a moment I started panicking thinking I had said something wrong before his arms wrapped tightly around my waist, drawing me into his chest in a tight embrace.

“Tim, that’s the most amazing thing anyone has ever said to me. I wish you could have met her, I really do.” He pressed his face into my neck and I could have sworn I felt a wet tear along his cheek but I didn’t dare say anything, I just held him and ran my fingers through his hair.

We never made it out to patrol. We spent the night together, cuddling on the couch sharing stories about our youth. Always happy memories, anytime either of us got off track towards a darker thought the other would stop them, pull them close and whisper sweet nothings.

I’ve never loved anyone nearly as much as I do Jason.


End file.
